Honda Civic Type-R

Road Test

Your Say

Test date 31 January 2007 Price as tested £17,661

For High-revving VTEC engine, cheaper than main rivals, fine seats and driving position

AgainstNot that fast, excessive body roll, short on handling finesse, poor rear visibility

The hot hatch has always exemplified the variety of nations. The traditional French recipe is to build them thin and light, with a devil-may-care attitude to passive rear-wheel steer. The German way is to build them solid, the Italian way to provide a scene-stealing engine and performance.

The Japanese, as you might expect, major on technology, and the previous Honda Civic Type R summed this up nicely. The widely revered Civic Type R brand was born from a potent mix of circuit, street and virtual racing, a genre-defining 197bhp engine using Honda’s VTEC variable valve timing system, and the unstinting use of sophisticated independent suspension like every Civic before it. If it didn’t work around Suzuka or Sugo, you got the impression it didn’t deserve to be on the car. The prize for Honda was 15 per cent of overall Civic sales wearing the red Type R badge.

Unfortunately for Honda, the current hot hatch party has been raging for a while now, and is stuffed with contenders from virtually every other major player. They think nothing of the old Civic’s headline-grabbing power output – in fact, it’s seen as a minimum in this class now – and their overall standard reflects just how seriously manufacturers are taking this class again.

In the face of this, Honda has found just one extra horse under the bonnet, and traded independent rear suspension for a less sophisticated torsion beam in the name of packaging and no doubt cost. Not the most promising of starts, then.

Of course, the truth isn’t quite so straightforward, and it’s worth remembering that, for all our fond memories, the old Civic was flawed in the areas of steering and refinement. Honda’s brief with the new Type R was to retain the raw thrills of old, while making the car easier to live with. Research had shown that the uncompromising nature of the old car was putting off potential customers.